Last week BYU installed four of these DIY maintenance stations on campus–south of the law school, south of the Clyde bldg, between the ASB and JKB, and between the RB and Fieldhouse.

Funny back story: BYU of course wanted the stations to be blue but Park Tools has the trademark on any bike related tools that are blue so this bike station company cannot make stands that are blue. One option was red, but for BYU that of course would not do so they ordered green ones.

Thanks to the administration for taking another step in making campus more bicycle-friendly. Now for more covered bicycle parking and bike lockers.

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The seventh annual Utah Bike Summit will be held Friday, April 10, and will gather citizens, riders, bicycle advocates, government officials, tourism and health representatives, and Utah’s bike brands to discuss, plan, and promote efforts to make Utah the most bike-friendly state in the country. The Summit will take place at the Provo Library at Academy Square (go, Provo!) and is open to the public, regardless of where, how, and why you ride.

This year’s keynote speaker is Gary Fisher, Founding Father of the Mountain Bike. Gary is a dedicated bicycle advocate and responsible for laying the early foundations for mountain biking. He is credited with developing some of the greatest innovations, including drum brakes, triple chainrings, motorcycle-style brake levers and 29 inch wheels. Gary is a longtime bicycle advocate and works to inspire people to get out and ride.

In addition to the keynote address, the Summit program will include presentations addressing topics relevant to people who ride bicycles for both transportation and recreation. The afternoon agenda is packed with breakout sessions looking at topics varying from making bicycling an equitable transportation choice to e-bikes, promoting bicycle safety, and creating a bicycle friendly ecosystem. A post-summit reception closes out the day’s activities at The Underground Social Hall.

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Provo bicyclists have Douglas Crow in their thoughts today, a father and BYU employee who was killed while riding his bicycle to work a year ago. Wishing the Crow family peace during this difficult anniversary and encouraging everyone to be aware of cyclists while driving in Provo (and everywhere else).

A memorial Ghost Bike is still found on the fence near the FrontRunner crossing near 700 W. and 600 S. Thank you to Kent Sanchez for arranging the Ghost Bike a year ago and for the video.

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The comment period for the Provo-Orem Bus Rapid Transit Environmental Assessment is over today.

Please take a look at what the project proposes and email your comments to the project team: provo-oremrapidtrans@hwlochner.com.

This is our last chance to comment in favor of features like bike lanes (or at least sharrows) on University Ave, HAWK signals for pedestrians, improving the University Parkway multi-use trail, etc.

Need some help generating ideas? Take a look at what I sent the project team below:

Hello,

In response to the BRT environmental assessment document, I would like to request the following:

- Please consider bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure throughout the project.

- Bicycle lanes on University Ave. would connect students to downtown and to the FrontRunner. This would make University Ave. a national example of a Complete Street and would put our city on the map as far as being transit-oriented, walkable, and bikable. Bike lanes are possible by removing only a few parking spaces. Realize that people riding bicycles are currently able to take advantage of a wide shoulder. When the shoulder is eliminated, bikes will be pushed out into traffic. If bike lanes are absolutely impossible, please ensure that there are bike sharrows and “Share the Road” signage to encourage safety.

- The multi-use path on University Parkway is a good example of the type of infrastructure choices we need to offer residents. Please make sure that the path is not compromised by the expansion of the road. Where possible, please take into account measures to improve the path’s safety and lighting.

Overall, I believe the BRT project will be a major improvement to our community. Thank you for your dedication to this cause.

Sincerely,
Jamie Littlefield

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For the last few years, the Provo Bicycle Collective has been an essential part of the local bicycling community. They’ve orchestrated free bicycle parking at the Farmer’s market, gone into our schools to help K-12 students build their own bikes, provided workshops for beginning cyclists, and (of course) offered a non-profit workshop for hundreds of residents to repair or build bicycles.

But, they need our help.

The collective is run by volunteers, receives no government funding, and is able to keep their doors open through donations from their patrons. However, the winter can be a particularly hard time for the little shop to survive. Can we all pitch in and donate what we can to help them keep providing these needful services to the community? We love these guys…they’ve done so much for Provo so let’s show them that we care!

At last night’s city council meeting, Provo resident Lexi Williamson was recognized for her dedication as a winter cyclist. Mayor Curtis and Aaron Skabelund, Chair of the Provo Bicycle Committee, presented Lexi with the “Canyon Bicycles’ Winter Bike Commuter Golden Spoke Award.”

Mayor Curtis told audience members a bit about Lexi: “Lexi is a BYU student and a Provo native. She lives on the west side of Provo has been riding since she was in high school and now consistently rides to BYU year round, which is about a 10 mile round-trip commute. She rides what her mom described as a Schwinn Specialized ‘comfort bike’ to also run errands and to do shopping, and for recreation, such as up Provo Canyon on the River Trail.”

Provo Bike Committee Chair Aaron thanked the council for their support last year noted that the Committee looks forward to their support this year–making the 200 East Neighborhood Greenway a priority as the city applies for CBDG funds.

Finally, Aaron counted down the top 7 (not so) secret benefits of biking through the winter:

7. It makes you feel like a rebel to know that the cold can’t beat you.

6. You never have trouble finding bike parking.

5. Friends and peers may think you are nuts, but they are secretly impressed.

4. It’s all about the layers, its not as specialized, or complicated, as you might think. (And I mentioned that there is “no such thing as bad weather, just bad gear” and that folks just needed to dress warmly like their mother told them too.)

3. You’ll be warmer riding your bike than waiting for the the car to heat up.

2. You won’t foul the air with your tailpipe emissions and you can easily earn of the mayor’s clean air pins.

1. Some days, it’s safer to walk or take the bus than to ride–doing so does not make you any less of a rebel.

After the presentation, Lexi was asked to make some remarks. She said she was honored but felt like she was not doing anything special, and asked the council and mayor to continue to provide support to create an interconnected network of bikeways so that bicyclists could get places safely.

Thanks for your dedication and example, Lexi! Congratulations!

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This year, the Utah Transportation Authority wants to put in new bike lanes and lockers in places that connect to FrontRunner or Trax stops. Please let them know where you’d like to see these lanes and lockers by making a comment on their one-question survey. If you’d like, you can also add photos or mark locations on their map.

Provo’s FrontRunner station, in particular, could use some additional bicycle connectivity. For example:

- 600 South (the street to the North of FrontRunner) feels particularly dangerous as cyclists and pedestrians approach the station. Although there seems to be a lot of excess gravel and weeds on the side of the road, there is essentially no shoulder and no sidewalk.

- Additionally, the overpass bridge on University Ave. is extremely dangerous to cyclists and has such narrow sidewalks that two pedestrians can’t even cross each other without one stepping into oncoming traffic. Cyclists have very little shoulder to work with and the overpass is not designed in a way that encourages cars to anticipate cyclists on the road.

- Often, cyclists coming from downtown Provo miss their FrontRunner trains because they get stuck behind the flashing train crossing arm while other cargo or Amtrack trains cross (often sitting on the rails at the intersection ten minutes). Cyclists must choose whether or not to go all the way around and over the bridge to catch the train on University Ave. Many cyclists have reported waiting in front of the tracks for a significant period of time and watching as their trains leave without them.

Certainly, your experiences will give you additional ideas for Provo areas that need connectivity. Please help out our city by taking the survey as soon as possible and passing it along to your friends. Also, be sure to click on “Feedback” and hit the “Support This Suggestion” button below Provo suggestions you agree with. Let’s make sure Provo’s voice is heard.

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Here’s some huge news for our increasingly bike-friendly city: the Utah Bike Summit will be in Provo for the first time ever this spring. While the summit has traditionally been held in Salt Lake, this time they’re making the trek to the Provo City Library on April 10, 2015.

Even better, this summit will feature a keynote address from Gary Fisher. Gary is a member of the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame and recognized as The Founding Father of Mountain Bikes.

Following the summit, participants will hop on their bikes and ride over to a swanky after party in downtown Provo.

More information and online registration will be available soon at BikeUtah.org. Bike Utah and the Provo Bike Committee have been working non-stop to make this an event to remember.

For now, please mark your calendars and get the word out as much as you can (please, help us make this a success!). If you would like to be a sponsor or have connections to a restaurant that is willing to make a food donation, please contact us at bikeprovo@gmail.com.